Preaching is an intimidating calling. We stand before men and women, girls and boys; the young and the old; believers, seekers, the reluctant, and the hard-hearted. We proclaim God’s word as his servants, which is more than any of us can bear in our own strength. Preachers want to be faithful, fulfilling this intimidating and wondrous calling in the strength of the Spirit to the best of our ability. To that end, let me heartily recommend the podcast Starting Strong: Thriving in the First Years of Preaching.
The hosts, Matt Deroon and Oli Blythe are both in their fifth year of ordained Presbyterian ministry in Victoria. Matt serves as the Minister of Bannockburn Presbyterian Church, a church with one service in a regional area and Oli serves as the Assistant Minister of Surrey Hills Presbyterian Church, a church in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne with three services. They freely admit that they are not experts, but they bring the experts to us.
In each approximately-fifty-minute episode of Starting Strong they interview a preaching expert, focused on one aspect of preaching. With a mix of standard questions and questions particular to the topic at hand, the conversations are interesting and focused. Matt and Oli are genuinely listening and engaged with their interviewees. They regularly ask unscripted follow-up questions, clearly wanting to know the answers for themselves, not only for the listeners.
While there is much value in listening to the American voices which dominate the Christian podcasting scene, Australia has many seasoned preachers with worthwhile advice. Hearing the stories of their first sermons, the encouragements they have had in ministry, and the way they have developed as preachers, is instantly more relatable when you don’t need to apply a cultural filter.
The Love of God’s Word
The first interview is with Richard Chin, the national director of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students and TGCA council member, on how to be engaging. I expected to hear practicalities on delivery: varying tone, pitch and volume; using relatable stories and illustrations; being strong in introductions and conclusions. These topics are worth considering and some of them are the subject of later episodes. But to my delight this first conversation turned again and again to the preacher’s joy in God’s word. The wonder that God has spoken, and that his word is life, a fire, the sword of the Spirit. When God’s word is more fully appreciated the way we stand and deliver it will be changed. We will preach with fire and passion. You can’t help but speak about what you love in an interesting, engaging way. Tone, pitch, speed will all naturally vary as you share your heart.
Love for God’s People
A later episode is with former principal of Ridley College, Melbourne and council member emeritus member of TGCA Peter Adam. The topic of his interview is sermon outlines and structure. He makes the point, which should be obvious to the preacher but can be all too easily forgotten, that preaching is service not performance. This means that even as the preacher is determining the structure of his sermon he should be thinking about helping the congregation understand and apply the passage. The aim of the preacher is not to have the congregation singing the his praises, but the praises of the one who made them, and purchased them with the blood of his Son.
Adam’s love for people shines through in these moments and should challenge all of us who seek to serve God’s people in preaching. You can’t help but smile as he tells story after story of particular people.
Love for Christ and His Gospel
Another episode features Jared Hood, principal of the Presbyterian Theological College, Melbourne, on how to preach Christ from the Old Testament. Jared speaks some strong words here, that if we’re not preaching Christ and the grace that is found in him then we are preaching law: a ministry of death. But in preaching Christ, what do we preach about him? Do we only ever bring people to the cross and no further? Of course we should do this, calling people to repentance and faith. But there is so much more to Christ than the atonement. Preachers are sometimes reticent to preach the moral elements of the text, but these are the will of Christ, the King, for his people.
A Slight Quibble
Any negatives feel like quibbles, but it does need to be said that the sound quality in some of the interviews is poor at times. There are moments where it’s hard to hear the end of a sentence from one of the hosts. At other times the volume is quite low. Should a second season be produced, this issue ought to be resolved.
Paul tells Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God” (2 Tim 1:6). These conversations will indeed fan that flame, and cause self-reflection into those areas of our preaching which need growth or renewed vibrancy.
